Blog · Guelph

What holiday lights cost to run in Guelph on the November 2026 electricity prices

A typical 100-watt LED roofline lit from 5 to 11 p.m. costs about 7.4¢ a weekday night and 5.5¢ on weekends and holidays on time-of-use, about 18¢ a weekday night on Ultra-Low Overnight, and about 6.7¢ a night on tiered pricing, before Alectra's delivery charges; a schedule that starts at 7 p.m. cuts the Ultra-Low Overnight figure by more than a third.

Last updated October 28, 2026 · Reviewed by the Guelph Christmas Lights team

How much does it cost to run Christmas lights in Guelph?

For a modern LED display, cents a night. Guelph and Rockwood homes are served by Alectra Utilities, which bills the electricity itself at the prices set by the Ontario Energy Board, and from November 1, 2026 those prices are lower for holiday lighting than most people expect. The exact figure depends on three things: how many watts the display draws, which hours it is on, and which of the three price plans the household is on.

What are the electricity prices from November 1, 2026?

Plan	Price	When it applies (winter)
Time-of-use	9.1¢/kWh off-peak	Weekdays 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.; weekends and holidays all day
	14.6¢/kWh mid-peak	Weekdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
	18.9¢/kWh on-peak	Weekdays 7 to 11 a.m. and 5 to 7 p.m.
Ultra-Low Overnight	3.7¢/kWh	Every day 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
	9.1¢/kWh	Weekends and holidays 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
	14.6¢/kWh	Weekdays 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 9 to 11 p.m.
	37.7¢/kWh	Weekdays 4 to 9 p.m.
Tiered	11.2¢ then 13.2¢/kWh	First 1,000 kWh a month for a home in winter, then the higher price

These are energy prices only. Delivery and regulatory charges and tax are added on the bill.

What does a typical display cost per night?

Take two common displays, lit from 5 to 11 p.m. A 100-watt LED roofline on a bungalow or the front of a two-storey uses 0.6 kWh a night. A fuller display of roofline, trees and shrubs at about 300 watts uses 1.8 kWh.

Plan and night	100 W roofline	300 W full display
Time-of-use, weekday	about 7.4¢	about 22¢
Time-of-use, weekend or holiday	about 5.5¢	about 16¢
Ultra-Low Overnight, weekday	about 18¢	about 54¢
Ultra-Low Overnight, weekend or holiday	about 5.5¢	about 16¢
Tiered, any night (first tier)	about 6.7¢	about 20¢

The weekday time-of-use figure is two hours at 18.9¢ (5 to 7 p.m.) and four at 9.1¢. The weekday Ultra-Low Overnight figure is four hours at 37.7¢ (5 to 9 p.m.) and two at 14.6¢.

What does a whole December add up to?

December 2026 has 21 weekday nights and 10 off-peak nights: eight weekend days, Christmas Day on Friday, December 25, and Boxing Day, which falls on a Saturday and is moved to Monday, December 28 on the OEB's holiday schedule. For the 100-watt roofline lit 5 to 11 p.m. every night of the month, that comes to about 210¢ on time-of-use, about 430¢ on Ultra-Low Overnight, and about 210¢ on tiered pricing, before delivery charges. Triple those for the 300-watt display. Either way it is a small line next to the furnace, and next to what the lights cost to install, which is covered in the Guelph cost guide.

Why do Ultra-Low Overnight households pay more for evening lights?

Because the plan's 37.7¢ on-peak window, 4 to 9 p.m. on weekdays, lands exactly when holiday lights are on. The plan is built for households that move heavy use, such as charging an electric vehicle, to the 3.7¢ overnight hours, and that is still the right choice for many of them. The lights are simply the one load that cannot be moved overnight, since nobody wants a display that comes on at 11 p.m. The fix is the schedule, not the plan.

How does the schedule change the cost?

A lot, on Ultra-Low Overnight. For the 100-watt roofline on a weekday:

• On 5 to 11 p.m. About 18¢ on Ultra-Low Overnight, about 7.4¢ on time-of-use.
• On 7 to 11 p.m. About 10.5¢ on Ultra-Low Overnight (two hours at 37.7¢, two at 14.6¢), about 3.6¢ on time-of-use.
• On 9 to 11 p.m. About 2.9¢ on Ultra-Low Overnight, about 1.8¢ on time-of-use.

December dusk in Guelph comes before five, so a 7 p.m. start loses the first two dark hours; many owners split the difference with a shorter early block and lights off at a set bedtime. On weekends and holidays every plan charges 9.1¢ until 11 p.m., so the full evening costs the same either way. Ending at bedtime matters for more than cost: ESA's holiday safety guidance asks that outdoor lights be turned off when you go to bed or leave the house.

Does permanent lighting cost more to run?

Not in December, when it does the same job as a seasonal roofline. It runs the rest of the year too, but on ordinary nights most owners set a soft warm white for a few hours, which at the prices above is a few cents a night or less. A schedule in the controller does the work, and the permanent lighting page explains how it is set up.

What else keeps the cost and the risk down?

• Use LED. Commercial-grade LED draws a small fraction of what the old incandescent strings did.
• Use certified lights. ESA asks for a recognised Canadian certification mark, outdoor-rated lights and GFCI-protected outdoor outlets.
• Keep to the limits. ESA's guidance is no more than three consumer light strings connected end to end, and connections kept off the ground and away from driveways and walkways.
• Retire old sets. A strand with a cracked plug or chewed cord does not get cheaper to run by being rehung.

Every seasonal install includes a timer or plug-in controller set before the crew leaves. Tell us which price plan you are on when you ask for a quote and the schedule can be set to suit it.

Sources

• Electricity rates - Ontario Energy Board
• Holiday schedule - Time-of-Use and Ultra-Low Overnight - Ontario Energy Board
• Customer newsletter, Guelph, April 2026 (PDF) - Alectra Utilities
• Holiday safety - Electrical Safety Authority